Narrative:

This was the last day of a 4-DAY trip. I felt as though I was coming down with something the first day of the trip. On the second and third day I had the flu. Therefore, I got little sleep during the trip. Today, I felt better, but was not mentally awake. I also had a sore throat, so conversations in the cockpit were kept to a minimum. Approach told us to contact tower at the marker (still 5 mi away). There was hardly any traffic at our time of arrival, so there was no clue that I had not switched to tower to get landing clearance. The first time I noticed we were not on tower was after clearing the runway and there were no instructions from tower. I had called in sick for a trip 2 weeks earlier so I wasn't about to call in sick for this one. I should have called in sick during the trip because the aches and pains greatly distracted me. Very little rest over the 3 days left me mentally exhausted. Also, the sore throat limited my conversations which slowly put me to sleep mentally. After this incident, I looked back on the flight and realized that I didn't remember much about the flight. Some ways to prevent this: obviously, don't fly sick. Unless controller workload doesn't permit, don't tell aircraft to switch to tower somewhere down the road. Have tower try to contact aircraft through final (monitor) controller if workload permits. There is not much that can be done to keep this from happening again. It was a mental mistake on my part. Supplemental information from acn 233803: during ILS 21L at dtw, I (captain) was PF. I was busy hand flying the ILS and first officer acknowledged clearance to contact dtw tower at OM. We were issued a 180 KT speed to OM and at that point we got busy configuring the aircraft and running landing checklist. Since the WX during the approach was lower than advertised we became engrossed in the approach and search for our runway upon breaking out of clouds. Located our runway and started making required company callouts. After clearing runway, first officer noticed that he had not contacted tower for landing clearance. I should have caught error but didn't due high workload and inability to visually acquire runway due to fog and haze.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR MLG PERFORMS UNAUTH LNDG IN CLRNC LNDG NOT RECEIVED FROM TWR.

Narrative: THIS WAS THE LAST DAY OF A 4-DAY TRIP. I FELT AS THOUGH I WAS COMING DOWN WITH SOMETHING THE FIRST DAY OF THE TRIP. ON THE SECOND AND THIRD DAY I HAD THE FLU. THEREFORE, I GOT LITTLE SLEEP DURING THE TRIP. TODAY, I FELT BETTER, BUT WAS NOT MENTALLY AWAKE. I ALSO HAD A SORE THROAT, SO CONVERSATIONS IN THE COCKPIT WERE KEPT TO A MINIMUM. APCH TOLD US TO CONTACT TWR AT THE MARKER (STILL 5 MI AWAY). THERE WAS HARDLY ANY TFC AT OUR TIME OF ARR, SO THERE WAS NO CLUE THAT I HAD NOT SWITCHED TO TWR TO GET LNDG CLRNC. THE FIRST TIME I NOTICED WE WERE NOT ON TWR WAS AFTER CLRING THE RWY AND THERE WERE NO INSTRUCTIONS FROM TWR. I HAD CALLED IN SICK FOR A TRIP 2 WKS EARLIER SO I WASN'T ABOUT TO CALL IN SICK FOR THIS ONE. I SHOULD HAVE CALLED IN SICK DURING THE TRIP BECAUSE THE ACHES AND PAINS GREATLY DISTRACTED ME. VERY LITTLE REST OVER THE 3 DAYS LEFT ME MENTALLY EXHAUSTED. ALSO, THE SORE THROAT LIMITED MY CONVERSATIONS WHICH SLOWLY PUT ME TO SLEEP MENTALLY. AFTER THIS INCIDENT, I LOOKED BACK ON THE FLT AND REALIZED THAT I DIDN'T REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT THE FLT. SOME WAYS TO PREVENT THIS: OBVIOUSLY, DON'T FLY SICK. UNLESS CTLR WORKLOAD DOESN'T PERMIT, DON'T TELL ACFT TO SWITCH TO TWR SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD. HAVE TWR TRY TO CONTACT ACFT THROUGH FINAL (MONITOR) CTLR IF WORKLOAD PERMITS. THERE IS NOT MUCH THAT CAN BE DONE TO KEEP THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN. IT WAS A MENTAL MISTAKE ON MY PART. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 233803: DURING ILS 21L AT DTW, I (CAPT) WAS PF. I WAS BUSY HAND FLYING THE ILS AND FO ACKNOWLEDGED CLRNC TO CONTACT DTW TWR AT OM. WE WERE ISSUED A 180 KT SPD TO OM AND AT THAT POINT WE GOT BUSY CONFIGURING THE ACFT AND RUNNING LNDG CHKLIST. SINCE THE WX DURING THE APCH WAS LOWER THAN ADVERTISED WE BECAME ENGROSSED IN THE APCH AND SEARCH FOR OUR RWY UPON BREAKING OUT OF CLOUDS. LOCATED OUR RWY AND STARTED MAKING REQUIRED COMPANY CALLOUTS. AFTER CLRING RWY, FO NOTICED THAT HE HAD NOT CONTACTED TWR FOR LNDG CLRNC. I SHOULD HAVE CAUGHT ERROR BUT DIDN'T DUE HIGH WORKLOAD AND INABILITY TO VISUALLY ACQUIRE RWY DUE TO FOG AND HAZE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.